Chapter 75 - 74 : The silence before Thunderstorm

Kim Song-woo’s eyes darted wildly, his knuckles white around the handle of his hammer. His voice cracked, raw with disbelief. "Do-hwan... you—you’re joking, right? you... what are you saying? This is some kind of sick test?" The figure who used to be Do-hwan smiled with a predator’s calm,His features had sharpened, his posture exuding command. The faint shimmer of fangs behind his smile made my gut twist. "No," he said simply, voice rich with calm authority. "Do-hwan... was weak. He was gone the moment Mission Five began." His lips curled, savoring the words. "I am Valentine’s First Slave. A Vampire Baron. Do-hwan was nothing but a mask I wore... to walk among you." The air froze. Every survivor stiffened as if the world itself had stopped spinning. Betrayal, raw and jagged, clamped onto their throats. Song-woo staggered back, his hammer lowering an inch. "You’re lying... we fought together. You bled with us! You... you ..." His voice cracked, breaking into something fragile. "Don’t tell me that wasn’t real." The Baron tilted his head, studying Song-woo like one might examine a tool that had outlived its usefulness. "You truly believed that? Fascinating." His smirk widened. "No, Kim Song-woo. That was me measuring you. All of you. Testing your strength. Judging the worth of Buk-gu Ulsan’s District No. 1." His head tilted towards me. Ye-Rin’s axe creaked under her grip. "You bastard..." I felt it too. A blinding flash cut across the room. Blue UI screens rippled into existence, floating above our heads. The voice of the system rang out, cold and mechanical: [Alert: Vampire Aristocrat has revealed himself before schedule.] [System Notice: Final Defense schedule is being accelerated.] [Warning: Vampiric infection in exposed survivors has reached a critical stage.] "What—?" Seo-yeon’s eyes widened, the words trembling out of her. Then it began. A scream tore through the hall. One of the survivors clutched his throat, body spasming as his skin blistered. He collapsed, limbs twisting and snapping as bones rearranged themselves. His face warped, eyes flooding with crimson as fangs burst from his gums. His voice vanished into a guttural hiss. Another fell to her knees, black veins spreading under her skin like wildfire. Her body arched violently, back splitting open as grotesque ridges grew along her spine. The sound of flesh tearing filled the silence as she transformed into a snarling blood beast. The smell—iron and rot—burned my nostrils. And then Song-woo dropped to his knees. "Song-woo!" In-ji cried, taking a step forward. His hammer slipped from his grasp, clattering loudly against the cracked tiles. His veins bulged, dark and twisted, snaking across his arms, his chest, his neck. He screamed—a sound that was neither human nor monster, but both. "Rrraaaghh—!" Fangs forced their way out, tearing his gums bloody. Claws burst from his fingers, glistening with fresh gore. Then came the wings—shredded, jagged, malformed things that split his back open. He rose slowly, trembling, towering, his eyes no longer his own. Kim Song-woo was no longer a man. He was something cursed. Something caught between two nightmares. A hybrid of blood vampire and behemoth. I muttered under my breath, my sarcasm failing to mask the dread in my chest. "Well... that escalated faster than I imagined". "Beautiful, isn’t it? Even your precious shield bearer, the man who swore to protect you all... has been reborn. Humanity’s loyalty, so fragile. Its flesh, so weak. Valentine was right—your kind is easy to twist." He chuckled darkly. "You should be grateful. I’ve made this game... far more entertaining." Rage crackled in Ye-Rin’s voice as she shouted, "You—!" But before she could finish— BOOM! The ground split open, dust exploding upward. The ceiling groaned, windows shattered. Something massive had landed. A shadow swept across us, drowning the hall in darkness. Three long necks slithered into view, each ending in a monstrous draconic head. Fire flickered in one’s throat, frost misted from another’s jaws, and lightning snapped along the third. The survivors froze, staring up at the impossible. Volt. The three-headed dragon. The Baron’s smile faltered. I caught it—the brief flicker of unease in his eyes as Volt’s sheer presence pressed down like a crushing tide. Ye-Rin stepped forward, planting herself beside the dragon, her axe gleaming. Her voice was calm, steady, cutting the air like steel. "You thought you were the only one hiding something? We had our own piece on the board. Our own monster." The Baron’s composure cracked, his snarl betraying him. I didn’t give him time to recover. "Bak-U!" I barked, voice sharp as a blade. "Get the kids inside! Now!" Bak-U froze for half a second, then nodded. Hana grabbed Eun-ha, the twins, and the sickly boy, pushing them toward the stairwell. "Go, go, don’t look back!" The kids hesitated, glancing at me. Fear filled their faces. I forced a grin I didn’t feel. "Hey. Story time later from Ye-Rin. Now run." They obeyed. I turned back to the battlefield. My team had already moved into place—Seo-yeon’s threads of psychic energy flickering like silver whips around her, In-ji snapping the magazine of his pistol into place, Ye-Rin squaring her stance beside Volt. Hyun-tae loaded his shotgun. The Baron’s shadows writhed. The turned survivors snarled, their hunger dripping like poison from their fangs. Song-woo’s roar split the air, shaking the broken walls. The turned survivors crept forward, their hunger dripping from their jaws. My chest burned. I felt it. I was angry on him and myself for not being able to protect anyone. [Do you want to use Beastification?] [Target : Roger, The owl king’s Spy] [Yes/No] I closed my eyes for a second. Bones cracked, feathers sprouted. My vision sharpened into a predator’s clarity. Wings tore free, black and sharp as blades, stretching wide. Talons replaced my hands, gleaming in the broken light. Roger shrieked above, spiraling down, his presence fusing with mine. Two minds syncing into one hunter’s rhythm. My heart thundered. My lips curled into a sharp grin. "Alright..." My voice was low, lethal. "Time to clip a Baron." And with Volt’s roar shaking the heavens— We charged.